The journey to become a psychiatrist with an Econ degree

[TheJBone]

Hello all!
I recently graduated uc San Diego with an Econ degree, but have found pharmacology and eventually psychiatry to be my passion. I have used all my resources to obtain this degree, and it seems much more school will be required, and therefore much more money. I need to get a job ASAP to begin earning an income, and I need help from you all to formulate my plan going forward. Any advice is welcome and much appreciated!

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[deleted407021]

I'd say you should educate yourself about how applying to medical school works. You need to be able to answer the questions:

Do I have the perquisite courses?
Do I have a 3.3+ science and cumulative GPA?
Do I have an MCAT score?
Do I even know what the MCAT is?
What extracurricular activities, research, leadership, shadowing and volunteering, both clinical and non clinical, do I have and need?
Do I have a good idea of how the process of becoming a physician works?

If you gave us a bit more information about your specific situation, that'd be helpful. 🙂

 

[TheJBone]

Hey thanks so much for the response! My gpa is only 2.75, I became very disinterested in Econ and my grades really suffered. I have the one year of calculus, but would still need the bio, chem, and physics classes. I'm thinking of taking these at community college, and would expect to perform much better in these classes. Also I will look for a job in some niche of the medical field where a science degree is not required while taking these classes. Hope this info helps!

 

[deleted407021]

It might be better, if you can, to take the prerequisites as a post bacc at a university. Retake any C or under grades and apply to osteopathic schools because they do grade replacement, meaning they only count the retake grade instead of just averaging them. Like I said, that GPA needs to be 3.3+ to have a shot, although some newer schools may give you more grade leeway, especially with such an upward trend, assuming you get one. Look around here and the Pre-Osteopathic forum for more information about the process.

Use the questions I posted above as a guide to your research. There's a lot of information to cover and a lot of work to do. Ask if you come across a question to which you can't seem to find an answer. Good luck!

 

[TheJBone]

Even if the classes were outside of the sciences? I have quite a few c's it seems pretty daunting of a task to be honest. But thanks so much for the info!